CHI

150

CH 0

except the door, before which a mat is hung, or a screen isplaced, to prevent passengers from looking in. The housesof the merchants of Canton have a very gay and handsomeappearance towards the river.

“ The materials used for building are wood and brick.The latter are either simply dried in the sun, or baked inan oven. The walls of the houses are commonly abouteighteen inches thick, and the bricks, which are about thesize of our own, are used in the following manner: the masonsplace three or four beds at the foundation, entirely solid ; afterwhich, they dispose their bricks alternately length andbreadthwise, along the two sides of the wall, so that thoselaid across touch one another, and occupy the whole breadth,but those placed lengthwise have a space between them; onthis layer, or bed, a second is laid, with all the bricks length-wise, and the joinings of the cross-bricks in the first layer,are covered with a whole brick in this. The work is thuscontinued, alternately, to the top; and by this means, theexpense of work and time, as well as the weight of the wall,are very much diminished.

“ The tiles that cover the roofs, are plain and semi-cylin-drical ; the latter are laid on the joinings of the former, andthe manner in which they are supported, is represented inPlate III. The Chinese, like the Goths , always let the woodappear withinside the ceiling; for which reason, the beamsand columns are frequently made of precious wood, andsometimes they are richly inlaid with ivory, copper, andmother-of-pearl.

“ Various kinds of columns used by the Chinese .—Columnsare at least as common in Chinese edifices as in those of theEuropeans. They support the roof, and are commonly madeof wood, with bases of stone, or marble, having no capitals;but, instead, the top of the shaft is crossed by the beams.Their height is from 8 to 12 diameters, diminishing graduallytowards the top, while the lower part of the shaft terminatesin an ovolo, producing an effect just the reverse of theterminations of the ancient columns. This peculiarity isobservable in the drawings of the Antiquities of Egypt, pub-lished by Captain Norden, some time ago. The bases showa great diversity of profile; none of them are very hand-some, but the most regular that I have seen, are the sixrepresented in Plate III.” See Chambers’ Work.

Figure 2, No. 1, “ is taken from the colonnade that sur-rounds the court of the pagoda of Cocliinchina: the columnis about seven diameters in height, and the base one. Thisprofile is very common.”

Figure 2, No. 2, “ is taken from one of the temples of thesame pagoda, represented in Plate I. It is the only placewhere I have seen this kind of column. They are about ninediameters high, and their base two.”

Figure 3, “ is taken from the colonnade of the great courtof the pagoda of Honang. The height of the column is ninediameters, and that of the base one. The ends of the beamsare ornamented with heads of monsters, terminating in foliage,and the brackets that support them come out of the mouthsof grotesque heads, cut in half-relief on the columns.”

Figure 4, “ is taken from a little pagoda in the easternsuburb of Canton. The height of the column is eight dia-meters and a half, and that of the base three-fourths of thediameter. The ends of the beams represent heads of dragons,and all the wood-work of the ceiling is ornamented with mon-sters and foliage, in inlaid work of copper, ebony, ivory, andmother-of-pearl.”

Figures 5 and 6, “ the transverse elevation of Figures3 and 4.”

Figure 7, “ is seen in almost all the houses of the Chinese .Their height is from 8 to 12 diameters, and sometimes more;

that of the base is from one-half to two-thirds of the diame ® •The profile resembles one of the Tuscan bases of Pallad 10 "Figure 8, “ is found in almost all the pagodas, with solittle varieties. The model from which I have taken Jdrawing, is in a little pagoda, in the street where are ^European factories. The columns are octagonal, an ° a |,gstone. Eight diameters of the circumscribed circle wthe height; and they have no diminution toward the J 5 .The bases are the most regular that I have seen in C*>and much resemble the attic base of the ancients. -*•height is equal to double one of the sides of the column 1 .

“ The particular divisions of all these profiles are ma 1at the side of each drawing. j.

“ The insides of the temples, represented in Pl ateS a ,and II. (see Chambers,') are quite plain ; having no 0 ^ments beside the idols. The buildings represented in Pla te ^Figures 3 and 4, have no ceilings; the beams which sU P^ > t j 1 6the roofs are seen; and their joinings are according t0 ^principles of that in Plate III. The interior of thein Plate III. is also quite plain.” g ; 9 ts

We must not omit to mention the Great Wall; it c0 fl 0 fof an earthen mound supported on each side by wabrick and masonry, the thickness of the whole beingfive feet at the base, diminishing to fifteen at a heiga^jgfifteen feet, which is the level of the platform; ba* t japlatform is defended on either side by a parapet five * e £ ee t.height, thus making the total height of the wall twentyAt intervals of about two hundred paces are towers, tto a height of thirty-seven feet, and measuring fo rt 7 #r esquare at the base, and thirty feet at the top; th ere r j e g,however some larger towers, which consist of twoand are about forty-eight feet in height. This wall is caround a great portion of the empire, passing over in lt ®^ ee jjmountains, valleys, and rivers, and is altogether **hundred miles in length. bV ^

CHIP, a small piece cut away from any material* Jacute-angled instrument.

CHISEL , an instrument used in masonry, carpentH’.^efjoinery, and also by statuaries and carvers, for cutting* t 0 tby the impulse of pressure, or of the blows of a w a ^ c« r "hammer. There are several kinds of chisels used t i,epentry and joinery; as, the former, the paring- c/l ’{jifgouge, the mortise-chisel, the socket-chisel, and the 1 /^ g tochisel. These names they have obtained from tluj ^

, cb> sl

which they are respectively applied. See ToolsChiseled Work, in masonry, stones that have asurface.

CHIT, an instrument for cleaving laths. . J

CHOIR, (from x°P°c* Greek, chorus;) that P ar ^

I SO 1

church in which the choir or singers are located,services for the most part performed. The ternn . tJU -times made equivalent to chancel, and defined as tha to ^of the building eastward of the nave appropriate^^ topriests, but incorrectly so, as the choir does not e jij-ed 3the extreme east. The fourth council of Tole ® ^

“ the priests and deacons to communicate before 1 ui I e rV,the inferior in the quire, and the people without t c t\i$l’thus making a distinction between the choir and s oCfl l 1or division in which the altar stood. In fact, the ® gr y 0divided into two parts—the choir, and the P reS ^sanctuary; the former containing the singers anministers; the latter the altar, and the superior^ c j li iii ce j

clergy. The choir was at the western end ot 1 j the( „separated from the nave by one or more steps an con tai Il6 I1screen, and from the sanctuary by steps only * 1 e tiin e9 ^jseats or stalls on either side, which were returned so gpwthe western extremity in front of the screen, theretu